1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to agricultural seed planting implements and to the furrow opening assemblies thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
Farmers utilize a wide variety of seed planting implements, including seed drills and planters. In a known type of planting implement, seed planting or row units are attached to a toolbar extending transverse to the direction of planting. The toolbar is coupled to a tractor or other work vehicle suitable for pulling the planting implement along a field that is to be seeded to a crop. Each planting unit includes a ground penetrating assembly, often including one or more discs, for opening a seed trench or furrow in the ground as the planting implement is pulled across a field. Components of the ground penetrating assembly shape the bottom and sides of the seed trench, and a seed metering device provides individual seeds at a controlled rate for deposit in the seed trench. Furrow closing components of each row unit close the seed trench in a controlled manner.
It is desirable that seeds should be planted at precisely controlled and consistent depths and the soil flow should be consistent on both sides of the trench created and covered by the planting unit.
To control planting depth, it is known to provide gauge wheels that travel on the surface of the field to control the depth to which the ground penetrating assembly can run, the positions of the gauge wheels being adjustable so that the depth of the seed trench can be controlled within fractions of an inch. The gauge wheels also serve the function of controlling the soil exiting the seed trench. This becomes more important as the speed of the planting unit increases over the soil. Without a uniform management of force applied by the gauge wheels, soil can be unevenly distributed.
What is needed in the art is a planting implement that provides greater control over the flow of soil that ground penetrating components displace during a planting operation, while trying to maintain equal soil pressure on each side of the row unit.